Harry Potter Just as Planned! Really? Me too!

Lord Raine

Well-Known Member
#1
A random flight of fancy I had for a crackfic. Depending on how it was played, it could either be really short, no more than a few chapters, or quite long.

The basic gist is simple. It starts out with the standard premise of Harry after a Bad End doing some cool magic that he pioneered to go back in time. He sets everything up, powers up the ritual, and sets it off.

The good news is that it worked.

The bad news is that Harry isn't the one who went back. Rather, he's the only one who didn't. Pretty much the entire cast of the series sans Harry 'wakes up' at some indeterminate point in the past, preferably the day the letters for the First Years of Harry's class arrive. They all have the memories and knowledge that they earned from their previous lifetime. Harry is the only one left out of the loop.

Cue massive clusterfuck trainwreck of people trying to change how their lives played out, with riotous results, and an innocent Harry Potter caught in the middle with absolutely no idea what the hell is going on.

Some points of possible interest:

~ Harry is bona-fide Hero? material, confirmed FACT. All the girls want him now that they know he's the stuff of Triwizard Champions, Dark Wizard killers, and legendary feats of did-he-seriously-just-do-that in general.

~ Voldemort is going to be a humongous threat this time around. He won't make the same mistakes twice, and worse yet, he knows exactly where the Philosopher's Stone is and how to get to it. Depending on whether Dumbledore or Voldemort realizes this incredibly important fact first, Voldemort may be back as early as the beginning of Second Year.

~ People are inevitably going to try and manipulate Harry to various ends, in a manner not at all different from how Harry typically tries to manipulate everyone else around him when he loops. In fact, this is where I predict the meat of the plot and humor will come from. Girls will try to get him to fall for them. Guys will either immediately like him or dislike him. His immediate friends may try to help him and push him in what they consider to be the right direction, which may or may not contradict with what his other friends think is best for him. Some of them will likely be clever about it, while others (Ron) will likely have all the subtlety of a troll in a glass factory. Some people will try to change everything into an ideal, while others will likely try to protect Harry from being manipulated, and still others will panic and try to maintain the original sequence of events as much as possible.


Thoughts?
 
#2
BRILLIANT! I would have more to say but it's late. Tomorrow then.

However, Ron trying to make Harry into a superhero would be epic hilarity in the making.
 

Takerial

Well-Known Member
#3
Hrm.

Wonder how long it will take before people start realizing they weren't the only ones sent back.
 

Munch

Well-Known Member
#4
+1 for being basically the only "loop back in time" HP fic I'd actually consider reading. It's an amusing concept that actually has some originality and potential to it.
 

Lord Raine

Well-Known Member
#5
Takerial said:
Hrm.

Wonder how long it will take before people start realizing they weren't the only ones sent back.
I considered this as well, and I think it's a very important part of the story. If everything was going to hell in a handbasket and you suddenly 'woke up' back in time, you've probably got a lot of questions and a lot of thoughts, but you probably wouldn't assume that others got sent back as well.

The people who will be especially confused will likely be those who died before Harry did the ritual. From their point of view, they 'died' and then immediately 'woke up' at some point earlier in their life. As far as they know, this is what actually happens when you die. Some of them may even decide that this is obviously heaven/the afterlife, and thus they can do whatever they want. Cue complete chaos.

I also like the idea of Dumbledore literally thinking that this 'is' the Next Great Adventure, and acting accordingly.

The realization would initially likely be limited to the particularly intelligent characters like Snape and Hermione. Other people might begin to realize it later on, and the people who realized it initially may begin using logic to narrow down what happened and eventually finger Harry as the cause, or at least the reason why. After all, he is the only person who doesn't appear to remember anything, and simply cross-checking dates and schedules would confirm that the reset sent them back to exactly when Harry would have recieved his letter.

And again, I like the idea of Dumbledore not noticing or realizing it at all, because he thinks this is what happens when you die, and who is he to question why everyone might act a little odd?
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
#6
First off, define everyone, since if everyone got sent back, there would be worldwide chaos. I'd say limit it to 20-50 people or so, since that is more than enough to

As for an explanation for why it was those people, let's just have Harry collect mementos of his friends/enemies that he carries with him at all times. FOr some reason, the ritual locked on to them instead of Harry, sending them back in time

Also, Bad End needs to be defined, since if Voldemort won, he isn't too likely to change to much, until he realizes that there are other travellers. If everything got destroyed.

Is anyone aware that Harry tried this? Knowing what probably happened could be a huge advantage, since they would know it wasn't the afterlife/all just a dream/other rationalization.

Bonus points if Harry got married at least twice, and his future wives start fighting over who has the most rights to marry him again, especially if some non-wives decided to shoot for Harry too.
 

sworded

Well-Known Member
#7
Lord Raine said:
~ Voldemort is going to be a humongous threat this time around. He won't make the same mistakes twice, and worse yet, he knows exactly where the Philosopher's Stone is and how to get to it. Depending on whether Dumbledore or Voldemort realizes this incredibly important fact first, Voldemort may be back as early as the beginning of Second Year.
He could be back before the begining of the First year; he has Quirrell sub for Wormtail and grabs random shmuck wizard/witch, I vote Mundungus, to be his 'enemy' in is resurection ritual. He might well be able to speed blitz this to happening in a week or less depending on the ingrediants needed for getting him his weaker body if it's even needed.
 

Jryu

Well-Known Member
#8
My opinion? Too many cooks in one pot.

How many characters are you going to have 'resetting'? From this, it sounds like dozens, at the least. Each one is going to make changes and you will need to plot out how they will react to the changes made by others.

It sounds like it would cause a migraine just trying to READ such a story, much less write one.

Scale things back... significantly. I'd personally recommend no more than 6 people - total - but that's just me.
 

Oni_kawaii

Well-Known Member
#9
No matter how this goes Harry is screwed.
if god had a toilet it's name would be harry potter
 
#10
To consolidate some of the questions and comments here into a concrete idea, here's an example of:
A) How to 'define' everyone
B) Limit the people sent back
C) How to easily demonstrate the 'bad end'

Say, for example, that in Harry's 7th year, he went back to Hogwarts instead of disappearing into the countryside. He and all of his surviving friends, other students, teachers, etc. would be in that school. And Voldemort arrives to take over.

Harry and a group of the 'good guys' lock themselves in the Room of Requirements, outfitted as a combination ritual chamber and defensive fortress. Voldy and his minions are laying siege and slowly breaking through. A portion of the students have been killed, and the rest have been evacuated.

Hermione, working with some of the teachers (probably McGonagal, Flitwick, Vector, and whoever was teaching runes) design the 'going back in time' spell. Harry powers it. Everyone on the hogwarts ground who has a magical core has that sent back in time carrying their memories - including all of the dead people on the grounds, like Dumbledore who's burried outside! So the people sent back are:
Voldy and most of his minions
The core good guys
A handful of random students
Possibly a couple of people from Hogsmeade

This lets you justify sending back just about any named character in the books, while not necessitating that the whole world gets sent back. And the explanation for why Harry wasn't sent back becomes either 'he was powering it' or 'he'd exhausted himself magically, and his core didn't have enough power left to make the trip'.

Just a possible example.

Hope that helps!
 

Happy Person

Well-Known Member
#11
Meh, crap as anything besides a few thousand words one shot.

It fails the basic suspension of disbelief test. Harry is apparently smart enough to invent a spell that allows real time travel that can alter history, and yet stupid enough to mess it up and have it effect everyone but him? Really?
 

marthf1

Well-Known Member
#12
Yes, because magic always goes as planned & a new spell is always perfect on the first try.
 

Lord Raine

Well-Known Member
#13
Yes, it is obviously a complete failure, because incredibly smart people never make mistakes or typos, especially when dealing with complex mile-long equations that are mostly theoretical to begin with.

I'm all for complaints, but if all you can complain about is "Harry can't make mistakes if he's capable of quasi-timetravel," then you don't really have a complaint at all.


As to the number, no, it's not literally 'everyone.' It's just most of the people who matter, and a few who don't. There's no exact number, because to be honest, the exact number doesn't matter. This is a crackfic and parody at it's heart, so the people involved will be Whoever Is Most Convenient/Funny. This isn't a serious story, nor is it supposed to be.
 

Chuckg

Well-Known Member
#14
Actually, the problem here is that unless the 'starting point' is set sometime later, the world ends very early into "Philosopher's Stone".

The problem is the window of opportunity Quirrellmort has on Diagon Alley, the first day. IIRC, Quirrellmort found out later on that Hagrid was the bagman for its trip to Hogwarts from Gringotts, and he knows what day Hagrid went to Gringotts (in the company of Harry Potter, no less) as he bumped into him in the Leaky Cauldron. And he also knows the day the Stone left, from his failed robbery attempt.

The two things he needs for ultimate victory, the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter, are both in one place and guarded only by Hagrid. All he has to do is wait for them to leave Gringotts, follow them until he has a clear shot, them *bam bam*. Two quick AKs and he's got the Stone out of Hagrid's pocket and a dead Harry Potter. Voldemort returns, all is lost.

(I am aware that Quirrell was not possessed by Voldemort on that day; this is a problem Looping Voldemort can easily fix, by simply giving Quirrell different instructions or possessing him earlier.)

So while the premise is entirely workable, the start date needs to be set after the stone is back in Hogwarts. As otherwise, every other looper will just be packing their trunks to go to Hogwarts and looking forward to starting their plans, while Voldemort's already finished winning.

Addendum: yes, if Hagrid is looping too, he can try to do something; except that since Hagrid doesn't know that Voldemort is looping too, he won't know that he has to. Also, he's not exactly Batman, he's not going to beat a Death Eater with a wand and enough room to use it.
 

Hawk

Well-Known Member
#15
Except that Voldemort has no defense against Lily's protection at that point. So he can't really attack Harry.
 

Chuckg

Well-Known Member
#16
Hah, this argues for not possessing Quirrell and sending him in then. The protection demonstrably doesn't stop other Death Eaters from using their wand on Harry Potter, witness Wormtail in the graveyard at Little Hangleton.

Or Imperio a nearby muggle and have him throw Harry in front of a bus. The quick AK in the back is just for Hagrid then.
 

sworded

Well-Known Member
#17
inverted helix said:
Except that Voldemort has no defense against Lily's protection at that point. So he can't really attack Harry.
With magic. He either personally or orders his minion to use a knife, a rock, a club, or just about anyting really to kill Harry. Harry wouldn't physically damage a minion unless they're being possesed.
 

Chuckg

Well-Known Member
#18
Or transfigures a nearby rock into a giant rabid wolverine or something, yes.
 

blueneck

Well-Known Member
#19
The bad end could be something bad for everyone. After all muggles would never commit genocide... unless it makes you sound like one of those arrogant douchebags that cannot understand that jkr is a woman who has no concept what any boy would do with incredible cosmic powers. Remember, all men desire power.
 

Typhonis

Well-Known Member
#20
Right depending on how many are sent back and when you could see all sorts of CHAOS....Harry the only student NOT sorted into Slytherin.

Adults that looped deciding to 'help' Harry this time around like say Lucis Malfoy? What a kid that can kill Voldemort and with the right prompting and teaching help Malfoy become a Dark Lord in his own right????

Chaos in the Ministry as the place goes to Hell in a handbasket because everyone knows who the DEs are and wish to correct the future or the DE sympathisers decide to strike early and win.

Fudge panicking as they try for a vote of no confidence in him and he screams that the events havem't happened yet so they can't do it.
 

Chuckg

Well-Known Member
#21
Hah!

Lucius could entirely file for custody of Harry Potter if he can steal enough of a march on Dumbledore (such as only dropping the motion on the Ministry's desk on a day when Dumbledore is busy at Hogwarts, like, oh, September 1st); 'And this proves that the Boy-Who-Lived is entirely suffering neglect from those horrid magic-hating Muggles, and since my wife is his closest living Wizarding relative who is not in Azkaban or officially disowned from the Black family tree(*), well, really now.' *bag of gold lands on everyone's desk at the Ministry*. 'I'd appreciate the fast-track.'

'Now Draco, I know you don't like him, but this is very important. Harry has a prophecy saying he's the only one who can kill the Dark Lord, and that means... no, no, you idiot! That means I can become the new Dark Lord after Harry does the work for us! Merlin's beard, you have to learn some basic cunning already or else you'll end up in Hufflepuff! Now, as I was saying, you're going to be the best big brother that Harry Potter ever had. And you're going to do this because you want to be the son of the new Dark Lord. And because its the best thing for the family. And because if you don't, I'll have Dobby murder you in your sleep.'

Draco (thought balloon): '... I'm beginning to think I'm not the only guy looping around here.'


(*) The literal truth; Harry's closest living Wizarding relatives are his Black family second cousins. In order of seniority, that's Sirius (Azkaban), Bellatrix (Azkaban), Andromeda Tonks (officially disowned from the Blacks), and Narcissa. This actually makes Dumbledore's decision to keep baby Harry out of the Wizarding world not completely nonsensical; short of getting the Ministry to ignore Andromeda's disowning somehow, keeping Harry in the Wizarding world's custody system has him growing up with the Malfoys.
 

Takerial

Well-Known Member
#22
Everyone who went back, will try to get ahead of everyone else.

But since they are all doing something different than they all expect, all their plans will fail horribly.

Except Dumbledore. Who thinks this is a dream or world where he gets to play around since he's dead. And does everything he always wanted to.
 

Lord Raine

Well-Known Member
#23
Actually, the problem here is that unless the 'starting point' is set sometime later, the world ends very early into "Philosopher's Stone".

The problem is the window of opportunity Quirrellmort has on Diagon Alley, the first day. IIRC, Quirrellmort found out later on that Hagrid was the bagman for its trip to Hogwarts from Gringotts, and he knows what day Hagrid went to Gringotts (in the company of Harry Potter, no less) as he bumped into him in the Leaky Cauldron. And he also knows the day the Stone left, from his failed robbery attempt.

The two things he needs for ultimate victory, the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter, are both in one place and guarded only by Hagrid. All he has to do is wait for them to leave Gringotts, follow them until he has a clear shot, them *bam bam*. Two quick AKs and he's got the Stone out of Hagrid's pocket and a dead Harry Potter. Voldemort returns, all is lost.

(I am aware that Quirrell was not possessed by Voldemort on that day; this is a problem Looping Voldemort can easily fix, by simply giving Quirrell different instructions or possessing him earlier.)
What you've forgotten is that if Voldemort has time to change his instructions, then Dumbledore has time to move the stone himself. I even pointed this out already, if you'd read the thread. The Dursley's avoid the letter issue for over a week. That's a week and a day Dumbledore has to move the stone before Harry and the stone show up in the same place at the same time.

Remember, all men desire power.
The only absolute in the universe is that people who throw around absolutes don't know what they're talking about.
 

Hashasheen

Well-Known Member
#24
Raine, while this is an awesome idea in principle, it'd be completly insane to write. Imagine the pure chaos, the anarchy that results from an entire population in the thousands, with each trying to do all this crap. Heck, just Hogwarts alone would be insane.
 

Lord Raine

Well-Known Member
#25
I've said twice now that it's not everyone, just most of the important people and several less important people. It's almost completely contained to Hogwarts, technically speaking. The exceptions to that outside of Hogwarts could probably be counted on one hand.
 
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